I have the great pleasure of writing Regency-set historical mysteries for Kensington Publishing under the Catherine Lloyd name and book three of The Kurland St. Mary mysteries Death Comes To Kurland Hall just came out. They are quite different to write than my romances, move at a slower pace and require a lot more upfront plotting than I am used to.
It is nice to write Major Robert Kurland, a less romantic and more realistic heroic kind of hero who has a bad temper, is an invalid after the Battle of Waterloo and a bit of an all round grump. Likewise, my heroine Miss Lucy Harrington is neither beautiful nor malleable, and is rather too strong-willed to settle for a lifetime in service to the men in her family.
I grew up in England so I also get a great deal of pleasure in writing about places I am familiar with including London, my home town, Brighton, Bath and various local villages. On a trip back for a wedding this summer I had a lovely time jotting down the names of various villages we passed through on our way through Suffolk for future reference.
Even more thrilling, for a history nerd was the chance to actually sit down and eat lunch (gammon, eggs, chips and peas) in the actual inn The Swan in Thaxted that appears in my third book! I always try and use the real pub names because an amazing amount of them have survived for centuries.
So if you enjoy cozy Regency mysteries, give the Kurland St. Mary series a try. As an incentive, I’ll be giving away 3 copies, (print or digital) of Book One, Death Comes to the Village.
What’s your favorite place to visit in England?
About Death at Kurland Hall
As wedding bells chime in Kurland St. Mary, a motley group of visitors descends on the village—and with a murderer on the prowl, some of them may not be returning home…
Lucy Harrington has returned to Kurland St. Mary to help with her friend Sophia Giffin’s wedding. But her homecoming is made disagreeable by the presence of Major Robert Kurland, whose bungled proposal has ruffled Lucy’s composure, and a meddling widow who has designs on her father, the village rector.
Wary of the cloying Mrs. Chingford from the start, Lucy has doubts about the busybody’s intentions with her father. But everyone else seems to think they make an ideal match—until the courtship is curtailed when Mrs. Chingford is found dead at the bottom of a staircase. It’s clear that it wasn’t an accident, and in hopes of finding the culprit, Lucy and Robert call a truce and begin scrutinizing the wedding guests.
But the widow left behind plenty of enemies, and when one of them is the next to turn up dead, Lucy and Robert discover that the truth is far more scandalous than anyone could have imagined…
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About the Author
Catherine Lloyd was born just outside London, England into a large family of dreamers, artists and history lovers. She completed her education with a master’s degree in history at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, and currently lives in Hawaii with her husband and fourth child.
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Susana's Parlour 
I have never been to England, but first ‘port of call’ would have to be my mother’s cousins in Tetbury in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire.
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i’ve never been but i would love to go to the tower of london!!!
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I had not heard of this series before. Sounds like fun!
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Love this series! Favorite place to visit – Devon!
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I have the first book in the series but would like to read others. Never been to England, only Canada (and that’s not very far away from where I live in N.W. Ohio). I don’t drink so I might not like pubs, but when I visited Colonial Williamsburg I went to a tavern. The servers dressed in Colonial garb. I ate pottage pie (I think that’s what it’s called). It was like a pot pie but you scooped it out onto a plate. I also had a dark cherry trifle for dessert.
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English pubs are more than bars. They often have great food, and people bring their families. These days may have Wifi and sports TV. Hi Michelle from a Toledoan!
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My very favorite place in England
is Bath – Barh Abbey, The Crescent,
Pump Room, Pulteney Bridge, Roman and Georgian spas, The Jane Austen Center. Sally Lunn Tea Room, Hole in
the Wall Restaurant, Wife of Bath…I
could just go on and on and on!
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Oh I love Bath. If I ever go back to live in England that would be one of my top picks!
Thanks everyone for commenting!
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I have never been to England but would love to visit areas where my ancestors came from .
Your series looks good.
Marion
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i would love to visit England one day. The book looks very good.
Marilyn
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Someday I would love to do genealogy on my family in England. The book is my kind of book.
Joan
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Would love to visit England to visit where my ancestors lived. The series looks good.
Marion
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I just finished “London” and am looking forward to this next one. Thank you!
And now i need to find your romance.
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Oh, my favorite place to visit in England… The Cotswolds, or the needlepoint/tapestry shops all over the country. And, of course, the old manor houses in the national trust!
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Favorite place in England is Exeter…and really the whole of Devon is beautiful. But Exeter has that huge wonderful Cathedral as well and charming shops in the close. Love to read this..
Marilyn ewatvess@yahoo.com
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If it’s not too late, i’d like to enter to win your beautiful book! I have never visited England but I would like to. There would be so many incredible places to visit!! Thanks and Happy holidays!!
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